Cryptocurrency Exchanges in Taiwan

As the development of cryptocurrency evolves, cryptocurrency exchanges have become the core of the blockchain economy globally.

Exchanges open the access to cryptocurrencies to the public, allowing investors to trade with fiat currencies or cryptocurrencies. Because of the use of fiat currencies, fiat-to-crypto exchanges are often more regulated and more difficult to establish than crypto-to-crypto exchanges.

While no regulations have been imposed on cryptocurrency in Taiwan, the Financial Supervisory Commission has been monitoring the development of cryptocurrency exchanges and keeping contact with the exchange operators. Without regulatory restraints, cryptocurrency exchanges in Taiwan have been booming since 2017.

BitoEx is a cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to Bitcoin. The most interesting service by BitoEx is allowing users to buy Bitcoins at convenience stores. Partnered with Family Mart, one of the biggest convenience store chains in Taiwan, BitoEx users can use the FamiPort machine at the convenience stores to buy Bitcoins and pay at the cashier in cash.

In addition to Bitcoin exchanges and Bitcoin wallet, BitoEx also created 2 different products to promote the usage of Bitcoin in day-to-day life. BitoEx debit card is accepted by 29 million VISA merchant stores. It can be used like a regular debit card to withdraw fiat currencies at ATMs globally. Bito Pay is a payment solution for merchants to accept Bitcoins.

BitoEx completed an ICO in May 2018, claiming to have raised $10 million in 5 hours and sold-out 175 million tokens (BITO) in 26 hours. BitoEx will use its new funds on its international exchange platform, BitoPro. BitoPro provides crypto-to-crypto, fiat-to-crypto, and margin trading services. The company plans to expand BitoPro to India and Singapore.

MAX is the cryptocurrency exchange developed by Maicoin, the largest cryptocurrency asset platform in Taiwan. While MAX is for cryptocurrency trading, Maicoin provides cryptocurrency transaction and management solutions, including instant exchange, electronic wallet, and merchant services.

Although MAX and Maicoin offer a well-rounded solution for users, they only support TWD as fiat currency and only open to Taiwan residents now. TWD assets traded on MAX are stored with KGI Investment Trust, one of the leading third-party custodians in Taiwan.

COBINHOOD sets its eyes on seasoned cryptocurrency investors and international market. It offers crypto-to-crypto trading with Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT) and Cobinhood coin (COB), and supports 60 cryptocurrencies and tokens. COBINHOOD’s website is available in a dozen languages and is active in building communities on Telegram, Reddit, and Medium.

COBINHOOD boasts the world’s first zero-fee cryptocurrency exchange. It does not charge transaction fees, but there is a withdrawal fee when you withdraw tokens from the exchange.

Through the partnership with EPay, COBINHOOD started offering fiat-crypto trading in BTC/USD, ETH/USD, and USDT/USD pairs on 20 July 2018. Users need to be verified for KYC on both COBINHOOD and Epay accounts in order to start depositing and trading in USD. However, this service is not available to residents in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan.

COBINHOOD also provides ICO services to help startups raise fundings and launch coin sales successfully. The services include support for technology development, legal, PR and marketing. Furthermore, tokens can be listed on COBINHOOD exchange after the ICO ends. CyberMiles raised 84,146 ETH from its ICO in partnership with COBINHOOD.

JOYSO is an Ethereum-based “hybrid exchange”. Users deposit cryptocurrencies into the smart contract and then place orders on JOYSO. After JOYSO automatically match the orders, the smart contract will verify the users’ signature and send the transaction information onto the blockchain to ensure transparency. While orders are centralized and matched by JOYSO, users’ private keys and assets are secured on a decentralized network.

JOYSO was launched in May 2018 after its ICO in March, from which it raised 7072.36 ETH. Its token, JOY, can be used to pay for JOYSO’s service and get a 50%-off discount on transaction fees. JOYSO promises JOY holders the right to vote on its operational issues, as well as lower-than-ETH collateral in decentralized margin trading in the future.

In June 2018, CoolBitX, a hardware wallet developer, and JOYSO announced their partnership. The partnership will enable users to securely conduct peer-to-peer trading using a hardware wallet. “The CoolBitX-JOYSO partnership is an industry first,” claimed Michael Ou, CEO of CoolBitX

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